Russ,I've gone through all the books I've ordered/preordered from you up through APRIL08 and here are the ones I'm still missing. If any of them have had their release dates changed then I don't mind waiting for them but since it's now the second week of July I'm thinking the rest should have arrived by now. Can you please give me an update on their status? Thanks, Jim

The majority of these are from the month's we missed piling into the weekly. Let me get with Kym and figure that out. I have a big pile for you to be included with this weeks.

Russ.

JimNunn wrote:

Russ,I'll be starting a chargeback dispute with my credit card company over the books I've ordered for August and most likely for what I paid toward priority shipping on past orders.

I'm seriously unhappy with the time it's taking you to send out my books even though I'm paying extra for priority shipping and the fact that so many have been missed. July 02's books should have been here by today and they are still not and it's just blowing my mind. Understandably July 4th held things up for one day but regardless having them shipped via Priority would have landed them here by today. I'm now wondering about July 9th's books. Because of the holiday Diamond books were actually released July 10th so does that mean it will now be TWO weeks that I receive my books later than I should?

I'm really sorry to have to be this way but I feel that I've been incredibly patient and my patience has simply run out.I order from comic book sellers on the east coast all the time via Priority and every time, 100% of the time, they arrive 2-3 days later as promised. When I ask questions they always, 100% of the time, give me succinct and concise answers and I never get that from you. I just don't understand why it's so difficult to get that same service with ComicSupply.com.

The first month I began receiving books tracking numbers were emailed to me and books appeared to be sent and arrive on time. I really don't know what has changed but I'm feeling like it's time for me to move on. Again, I don't mean to be harsh but I'm just at the point where I don't feel that it's working out for me here.

Sincerely,Jim

ComicSupply wrote:

Jim,

I don't even understand exactly what the issue is. First off, shipping for July (first week) were delayed because Friday was a holiday so the mail didn't move. We get a LOT of books on a Wednesday and it takes 2 guys, a full workday to just sort out what is needed for weekly shipments and what is needed for our monthly shipments. Normally our weekly shipments go out on Friday, so being that that Friday was a holiday they didn't ship until Monday of this week.

Also, because of the holiday we didn't receive this WED's books until today and they also will not ship until Monday or Tuesday of next week.

As far as missed titles, I am only human. Please understand that I make mistakes from time to time. As I stated before all your other preorders which were made after you made the weekly upgrade will be included with this week's. I didn't notice that you had other preorders with I believe your 2nd month's orders. Our system only pulls orders with the words "UPGRADE" in them, so the others were left off the list.

The JUN08 code's haven't even came in yet so I am unsure exactly why you would chargeback anything. Why not just stop ordering from me? We will be charged for them, and they will come in and be shipped as stated. I told you before that sometimes (banned) happens. Sometimes the shipments are so damaged that I have to wait to get replacements, and sometimes there are mis-ships from Diamond and we don't get things they say we have been shipped. We are not your local mom and pop shop who gets 300-600 books a week. We order and get on a weekly basis anywhere from 4-6000 comics. It takes time to sort/bag/board/pack/ship those and that is exactly why it takes the extra 2 days to get the books shipped out.

The holiday's slow things down, damages slow things down, mis-shipments slow things down, mistakes happen, errors are made. Recently I have added new employees to the rosters to help speed things up. If you want to pack your bags and leave I am not going to stop you, or beg you to stay. In reality I don't need the business as I have too much. All I can say is that things will get back on track with the speed of shipments. I can not promise that it won't happen again due to weather conditions, or shutdowns, or holidays, or damages, or mis-shipments but in as far as having the man power to do it, this has been addressed and handled.

I also don't know exactly who you are comparing me to with your east coast comment. If comic's came in during the beginning of the week then you would most likely have a package every Saturday. But, due to the volume we get in, and the volume that has to go out, I personally feel that a shipment 2 days after the comic shipment comes in is not unnacceptable.

Also, on another note, titles will be missed sometimes due to damages not being replaced by Diamond, or the fact that some issues are shorted the first time around. I do as I stated before have a large list of books for you to be included with this week's shipment.

Please let me know if there is anything else.

Russ

JimNunn wrote:

The reason for charging back the JUNE08 books is simple enough. You don't honor cancellations.I am unhappy with the service and therefore I should not be held accountable for any future service should I decide to leave.I have given it enough time (3 months) to know for certain of how satisfied or dissatisfied I am with said service. It is clear I am dissatisfied.Commenting that you "really don't need the business" also helps to solidify the fact that service is NOT your number one priority. I'm sure this will help my case when issuing the dispute.

I found your site via ComicCollectorLive.com, a sort of eBay for comic books. The sellers on that site are made up primarily of Brick and Mortar stores and Full Online stores that also get in 4000-6000 books a week. I can order from them, on Wednesday, and receive my books 2-3 days later depending on when they get them to the post office. That is the big difference here, when they get them to the post office. Of course it's going to take longer for a package to arrive if they don't get to the post office by Friday late afternoon and choose not to drop packages off on Saturday when the post office is still open and servicing.

As far as missed titles, I'm glad to hear that they will be sent with this weeks late shipment but regardless they should have been sent a week ago if they did not have the work UPGRADE in them as those orders are sent by the end of the month if I understand your Free Shipping policy clearly. Not to mention the NON Pre-Order books that have been 'pending' since May which most certainly should have been sent out by now.

Your man power issues and system mistakes are not my problem and I shouldn't be made to suffer for them. As a paying customer I expect a certain level of service and when that level is not met I am obligated to rectify the situation by getting my money back. In this case the money I upgraded for Priority Mail service, which turned out to be no different than the Media Mail service as far as when the books arrive, and the future order I paid for which I no longer want.

On a personal level, I don't really appreciate your flippant "I don't care" attitude either. People that pay money for a service are entitled to certain level of satisfaction and should never be met with an "I don't care because I already got your money" attitude when they don't get it. So now, not only have you lied to me about the availability of a book and blamed it on Diamond when in fact it was an error in your system (have you even refunded me for that yet?), you've also been rude to me when I've expressed my unhappiness with the service and even gone so far as to use profanity to express yourself in doing so. Is there a reason I should be happy about any of this?

ComicSupply wrote:

Jim,

Firstly, you really haven't suggested to me when these issues with the service started. I believe I have explained to you that 1 week's delay was caused by UPS Damage shipments, and another week delay was caused by a mis-shipment where we got another store's items. A damage week means that we have to wait another week to get them, and the same with the other week. Now, you didn't really miss a beat because I went to a local shop here and got the issues for you and repaid them with the issues once they arrived to me.

I also had a personal family emergency that happened during the April and May. I was out of the office for 2 weeks and the only people I handled during that time were my weekly customers (albeit a bit more slow than normal)

Look, I'm not going to sit here and say we did no wrong. Sure, I am sure that I could of explained the CGC book a bit more clearly. And yes, I certainly wish the delays and damages didn't occur but those are outside of my control. And yes, we started to grow a little too quickly and I needed to find the manpower to man the shop. Certainly these aren't your problem but it is all part of the growing pains of a company and there are going to be bumps in the road.

What I meant (as I'm sure you read it correctly) was that I am not dying for the business. I have too much, and while I would like you to say, I am not going to apologize for things that I have no control over. In fact, the VAST majority of issues with the delays have been due to UPS Damages and mis-shipments. In fact, take Secret Invasion Fantastic Four #2, they billed us for all of the copies and never shipped us one. If you want to leave my service because of delays that I don't have control over then no, I don't care. If I can't control it, and make it better why should I lose sleep over it? Sure, I wish those thing's didn't happen but they do, and I just have to roll with the punches.

I have learned that in this business for every customer who doesn't understand these situations and won't just "roll with the punches" there are 10 that do. The one's I CARE about are the one's who understand that sometime's things just don't work out as we all would hope for it to.

Your order's a bit fudged up. I had you in the weekly file and the preorder people assumed that I had you and they didn't really know that the files weren't with me. When you brought it to my attention I pulled them and had the stacks at which point I started to pull them for you. As far as titles missing from the UPGRADE order, again, I make mistakes and maybe just missed them. If they are not checked off on the lists then I must of just missed them. On any given Wed's I am looking at so many lines of text and so many numbers that sometimes I just miss stuff.

Now, I have no idea why it take so long for the packages to get to you. You can see that I send them Priority mail and not Media mail as you have suggested. Media mail will take 7-14 mailing days. Priority mail takes what... 4-5 mailing days maybe from Michigan? Saturday past 1pm doesn't count, and neither does Sunday, so if I drop them at the post office on Friday night, they aren't collected until Sat, and probably don't leave Michigan until Monday, then it takes 3-4 days from that day.

In all honesty I can tell you this. Running a business isn't easy, and it isn't quite as cut and dry as consumers like to make it out to be. Consumers tend to think everything must work out to their expectations because they pay for something. The reality is, sometimes things don't work out that way, and its a lot like life in that we plan and hope for the best, but sometimes poop happens. Each customer is important and each dollar is important. Working for yourself is nothing like working for someone else. I don't work for the Man, I am the Man, and when I screw up, I have nobody to blame but myself, and nobody else to fix it but myself. And if things happen that I can't control, I can sit around whining about it all day, or realize I can't change it and just accept it. It isn't that I don't care about your business, I do. It isn't that I don't care about you getting good service, I do. But, this is the first time I have heard that you were really unhappy. I thought that when I explained the delays you understood the reasoning. The reasons are beyond my control and I can not change that.

I do not for ONE second believe that I have cussed at you, or been rude to you. If you have some sort of incident to point out, please do so because I don't recall any of that.

Look, in the end, I am just going to refund your Jun order because it's clear to me that your level of expectation is beyond what I can provide. I have shipped each and every week of yours. The thing that you are dissapointed in here is the level of speed of the USPS and the delays that were not caused by me. Your patience level is clear to me in that I responded to you on WED as to what I was going to do, and on THUR you send me the "cancel chargeback" email.

So here is what I am going to do.

I am going to ship out your July books as normal, and will include all missing titles from all other orders as well as the one you told me about (I am sorry, I wasn't aware of the pending order). At the end of the month, I will tally up what is missing and what is owed (CGC, missing books, etc) and will send your last shipment with a corporate check from us detailing what exactly wasn't included and the amounts of those items.

I have learned that in this business for every customer who doesn't understand these situations and won't just "roll with the punches" there are 10 that do. The one's I CARE about are the one's who understand that sometime's things just don't work out as we all would hope for it to.

This is probably the statement that irks me the most. Nowhere in Russell's replies does he offer any sort of consolation, or even understanding. Whether or not he can control these circumstances, he is The Man and must be accountable, it's that easy.

I'll bet a simple apology would have gone a long way with this individual.

I wonder if he is aware the the CCL community is privvy to this transaction?

"We make a pretty good team, even if we don't work together." - My son

This reminded me far too much of a few transactions I have had in the past.

Thank you for sharing this JimNunn.

We comic consumers need to trade experiences like this when they are pertinent. Purchasing comics on a regular basis can be extremely difficult, and we need to know which stores are the most professional at packing, shipping, and filling orders.

I find it astonishing that this comic retailer does not understand the importance of getting your weekly comics in a very quick manner. This is why I so rarely purchase current series on-line. I NEED to read them on Wednesday or Thursday of the week they come out. I can, of course, understand a legitimate delay, though.

I also found it somewhat disturbing that this retailer does not seem to understand how paying for a product or service works, and what the obligations of both parties are. That was most alarming.

Anyway, the sad part is that I can more or less understand both parties problems in this.

Oh, and also, do mis-shipments and damaged shipments and whatever really happen with the regularity that this retailer suggests? If not, does ComicSupply.com just have really bad luck? Or, if so, how in the world does Diamond stay in business?

At the two LCR's that I purchase my current comics from there have been none of these mis-shipments or damaged shipments within recent memory. (I purchase my comics the day the shipments come in, so you would think I would remember the cashier saying "Hey, we got the wrong shipment this week", or "Whoa, these books are all damaged".

Rank: Herald of GalactusGroups: MemberLocation: The Hellfire Club Mansion, Ohio

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ComicSupply wrote:

Jim,

If you want to pack your bags and leave I am not going to stop you, or beg you to stay. In reality I don't need the business as I have too much.

Russ

Well, then he won't miss my buisness/money either. That's a great way to lose customers by talking like that. I know most people learn of sellers by word of mouth. And there's no reason for all that delay. Yes you are human, but guess what? This is your buisness. You offer a service and yes, you are expected to deliver on time and correctly. I'm sorry, but if you can't handle that, please find another occupation. You should plan for growth. Why wouldn't you? All these excuses are just that, excuses. I'm sure he wouldn't like the same treatment from places he buys things....now that I put in my 2 cents, I'm feeling better.

Besides, I'd rather shop with Castle anywho. Talk about a really nice, great comic guru.

In all honesty I can tell you this. Running a business isn't easy, and it isn't quite as cut and dry as consumers like to make it out to be. Consumers tend to think everything must work out to their expectations because they pay for something. The reality is, sometimes things don't work out that way, and its a lot like life in that we plan and hope for the best, but sometimes poop happens.

What a great outlook!

Thanks for posting this Jim and letting everyone know who NOT to do business with...

Well Jim all I'll say is I've been doing this for the past 6 years and I have 30 years experience in the Customer Service Industry I take everything I learned about keeping a customer happy and apply them to my business.

I don't have people leave me because they are fed up with me that has never happened.

sceaduo is a customer of mine and he gave me the tip to join here.

Get in touch with me if you want a dealer who cares and who gives great rates.

Customer relations is #1 in my book

Finar Comics Dedicated to the collector Because we collect too Send Finar an e-mail finar@hotmail.com

Yeah, I've posted my displeasure with ComicSupply.com on these forums as well. I didn't get into as much detail as Jim did, but I pretty much went through the same hassle and communications as he did. But my biggest problem was getting just getting a response at all. They've been flagged as spammers with att.net, so their e-mails wouldn't even go into my spam folder, they just would not go through.

The unprofessionalism in dealing with customers is staggering. I got the same excuses. Who tells a customer they had to deal with a family emergency? I got a similiar excuse from his assistant, Kym. That she was sick with the flu. And when I explained I hadn't gotten any of their e-mails, they blamed me for it! I verified with my service provider and it definitely wasn't me.

I had waited several months to get my shipments and for my last pre-order, it was held because there was an independent title that was delayed. If one title in your order is delayed (for the free shipping service), they hold the entire order. They said that if I'd have made another pre-order, they would have shipped the books out but by that time I was so disgusted I didn't want to make another pre-order. Meanwhile, to this day that book has not been released and by their policy and had I not complained, I still would never have received my order. They never refunded me for the book either but for 2 dollars and change, it's just not worth the aggravation.

They offer great prices but their service sucks. I will never order from them again.

Wow, at least now I know for certain that I'm not crazy and this guy is totally unprofessional. I had to have my wife read those emails before posting them here to be on the safe side but you guys' responses just helps solidify things. Thanks.

Pat, had I not already replaced my pre-orders elsewhere I would totally have taken you up on your offer. I didn't even think to ask. I'm sorry.

Quick update though, I'm still waiting on July 2nd books. It's now Friday and supposedly he mailed them out on Monday from Michigan via Priority mail. By my count 2-3 days would have put them in my hands by today on the outside although I expected them yesterday. I get orders all the time from you east coast guys on here in 3 days on the outset. I'm just glad I only have to deal with his crap for a few more weeks.

I'm also super-super glad to hear you guys will not be using his services either. One of the things that bothered me most from what he said was that for every unhappy customer there are 10 more that are happy. I think what he doesn't realize is that negative experiences travel four times faster than positive ones do and eventually it will catch up with him.

Hopefully he'll stumble onto this thread someday and read what you all had to say and think twice about the way he treats customers in the future. That might be a little optimistic but you never know...

Seeing how badly another vendor is doing seems to bring out the shameless advertiser in other retailers... well, at least two anyway.

I hope you're joking with that remark, but if not I take exception to it. Jim and I are good friends and have done business on many occasions. I know he has a number of customers who order from him at a wholesale price. I'm not looking to make any money off him, I'm looking to help out a friend. I save my advertising for the sellers corner where it belongs.

White Queen wrote:

Besides, I'd rather shop with Castle anywho. Talk about a really nice, great comic guru.

Hopefully he'll stumble onto this thread someday and read what you all had to say and think twice about the way he treats customers in the future. That might be a little optimistic but you never know...

When I do a search on Yahoo for Comicsupply.com complaints, this forum pops up as one of the links.

I have been in the retail industry almost 15 years and this is without a doubt the dumbest thing any retailer could ever do! Even with world wide chain stores that make billions every year you don't make lame excuses or get rude with customers you do whatever you have to do to make the customer happy. Even if a first time customer is upset over a one dollar purchase you need to fix the mistake whatever it is and whoever may be at fault. EVERY customer and EVERY dollar is important. I will NEVER deal with comicsupply.com!!!

I hope you're joking with that remark, but if not I take exception to it. Jim and I are good friends and have done business on many occasions. I know he has a number of customers who order from him at a wholesale price. I'm not looking to make any money off him, I'm looking to help out a friend. I save my advertising for the sellers corner where it belongs.

We obviously have dramatically different ideas of what would constitute an advertisement.

comicscastle wrote:

I'm not looking to make any money off him, I'm looking to help out a friend.

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